Kerry On?

This article by Martin Schram, published in the Cincinnati Post from my ultra-conservative hometown, explains exactly why I’m so suspicious of Kerry. From the article:

But there is one place where you really haven’t heard those tough truths spoken — and that’s any place Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is speaking. That is too bad and quite sad. Because now more than ever in modern history the American people need and deserve to be told the tough but undeniable truths about the choice we face and the decision we must make on Election Day.

After I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last night, there was a guy campaigning for Kerry outside the theater. I got really really angry at Kerry, and I wasn’t quite sure why at the time. Now I know. It’s the same reason why I don’t trust Kerry. Here’s my logic:

Post-9/11-America is a scary place. Americans have never in their lives been exposed to such danger. The Bushites have done their best to exacerbate these fears in Americans, with the color-coded threat levels, the Dept of Homeland Security, and other such nonsense.

As a result of this fear, many Americans blame Bush, and have adopted the “anything but Bush” and “get this guy out of office at all costs” attitude.

This attitude, I believe, is a direct reaction to the fear. People who adopt it, on some level, want to return to the feeling of safety in pre-9/11-America. Clinton embodies this sense of safety, and Kerry seems very much like Clinton.

The problem with this logic is, pre-9/11-America is what caused 9/11. In other words, without American foreign policy since WWII, there would have been no 9/11. So this desire to get back to a place of safety is actually not as safe as they would like to believe. It just rewinds in time to a place where we weren’t aware of the danger.

This article is right on the money. John Kerry is in an unprecedented position to do a tremendous amount of good, and effect some seriously positive change in the world. To do so will require quite a bit of courage. The sad part is, I have seen not one iota of courage from him in this area. Every time I listen to him, I hear him saying the same kind of crap that American politicians have been spewing for decades.

I want to believe in Kerry. I think he’s got to be the favorite to win the election this year, assuming of course that there will actually be a real election. But for to believe in him, I need for him to open up to his heart, and do what he knows is right, not what will be most likely to win him votes. It’s a situation of safety, vs. honor. It’s a tough lesson, but these days I’d try to choose honor every time.